Closing machine

ABSTRACT

Closing machine for closing bottles or similar containers ( 2 ) using closures ( 3, 3   a ), having a plurality of closing stations ( 11 ) which each have a closing tool ( 12, 14 ) and a container carrier and are formed on the circumference of a rotor ( 4 ), which can be driven in circulation around a vertical machine axis (MA), wherein the rotor ( 4 ) has formed on it, in the region of the closing stations ( 11 ), a sterile chamber ( 5 ) which is bounded in the direction of the surroundings by walls or wall portions ( 6, 7, 8, 9 ) and into which the containers ( 2 ), which are retained in a hanging state on the container carriers, extend by way of their container mouth ( 2.1 ) which is to be closed, and wherein the respective closing tool ( 12, 14 ) extends into the sterile chamber ( 5 ) merely by way of a part which interacts with the container ( 2 ) which is to be closed and/or with the closure ( 3, 3   a ), all the rest of its functional elements being arranged outside the sterile chamber ( 5 ).

The invention relates to a closing machine in accordance with the preamble of claim 1.

Units are known for the sterile, and in particular for the aseptic cold filling of bottles or similar containers with a liquid product, for example with a liquid product that spoils easily, for example milk products, and also for the subsequent, again sterile or aseptic cold, closing of the containers. The bottles or containers are in that case transported in a sterile chamber during supply to the filling machine, during filling, during transport from the filling machine to a downstream closing machine and during closing; when the unit is running, i.e. on filling and closing, the chamber is flushed with or exposed to a sterile gas and/or vapour-forming medium and from time to time, i.e. within predetermined cleaning and disinfecting cycles or intervals, it is treated with a cleaning and/or disinfection and/or sterilization medium.

Known units suffer from the particular disadvantage that with the closing machine in question, all of the equipment of that machine and thus in particular the closing tools provided at the closing positions are arranged in the sterile chamber, meaning that the construction of those closing tools, at least at their outer surfaces and/or regions, must, inter alia, also be produced from a material that is resistant to corrosion by the cleaning and disinfection means, for example from stainless steel. Furthermore, the outer surfaces of the closing tools have functionally necessary recesses, slits, indentations etc which germs like to colonize, so that up to now this too makes it necessary to use large amounts of cleaning and disinfection materials to clean and disinfect the sterile chamber in the closing machine zone.

The aim of the invention is to provide a closing machine that is particularly suitable for use in a unit for sterile and thus in particular also for aseptic cold filling of products into bottles or the like as well as for closing said containers in a sterile manner, and which avoids the disadvantages mentioned above, i.e. reduces the risk of contamination, and so considerably reduces the means or chemicals required for cleaning and/or sterilization and/or for disinfection of the sterile chamber.

The closing machine of claim 1 solves this problem.

Further embodiments, advantages and applications of the invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments and from the figures. To this end, all described and/or depicted features, alone or in any combination, constitute the subject matter of the invention, independently of their synopsis in the claims or their dependencies. Further, the contents of the claims form part of the description.

The invention will now be described in more detail with the aid of FIGS. 1 and 2, which each show, in simplified form and in partial section, a rotary type closing machine in the region of a sterile chamber.

The closing machine with general reference numeral 1 shown in FIG. 1 acts in the embodiment shown in this figure to seal bottles 2, for example plastic bottles, with closures 3, for example in the form of foils, which can be fastened to the bottles or to the bottle mouth 2.1 thereof by welding or sealing, i.e. by the use of heat.

The closing machine 1 herein consists of a rotor 4 which can be driven about a vertical machine axis MA with, on its circumference, an annular channel-like sterile chamber 5 concentrically surrounding the machine axis MA, which is delimited from the surroundings by a plurality of wall sections; in the embodiment shown, they are an upper wall section 6, a lower wall section 7, a radially inner annular wall section 8 and outer wall sections 9. An intermediate wall 10 between the wall sections 6 and 7 divides the chamber 5 into an upper part chamber 5.1 and a lower part chamber 5.2. In the embodiment shown, the upper wall section 6, the inner annular wall section 8, the intermediate wall 10 and the part section 7.1 of the lower wall section 7 are mounted on the rotor 4 and thus revolve with it. The outer wall sections 9 as well as the part section 7.2 of the wall section 7 do not revolve with the rotor 4 and are attached to a machine frame of the closing machine 1.

In order to close bottles 2 with closures 3, a plurality of closing stations 11 are formed on the circumference of the rotor 4, of which only one is shown in FIG. 1; they are distributed at regular angular intervals about the axis MA. Each closing station 11 consists of a closing tool in the form of an induction welding head 12, of which in FIG. 1 only the inductively heated induction seal 12.1 which extends into the chamber 5 or into both part chambers 5.1 and 5.2 is shown. This is guided through an opening 6.1 in the upper wall section 6 and can move as shown by the double headed arrow A along its seal axis or along a vertical axis parallel to the machine axis MA between an upper start position and a lowered operational position, in which the lower seal surface of the induction seal 12.1 is applied and pressed against the corresponding closure 3 against the mouth opening 2.1 of the bottle 2 provided at the closing station 11 and to be closed and thus connects the closure 3 with the corresponding bottle 2 by sealing or welding.

Passage of the induction seal 12 through the wall section 6 is sealed off with a suitable material, for example consisting of a bellows like gasket 13 formed from Teflon. The induction seal 12, which extends through an opening 10.1 in the intermediate wall 10 with its lower end in the part chamber 5.2, is produced from a material that has as smooth as possible an outer surface and is formed from a suitable, good heat conductive but corrosion-resistant material, for example stainless steel, as a passive, heat-conductive component, for example. All of the other functional elements of the induction welding head 12, such as the elements for lifting and lowering, for heating the induction seal 12.1, etc, are above the wall section 6 outside the sterile chamber 5.

Below the induction seal 12, each closing station 11 is provided with a container carrier, which is formed by an opening in the part section 7.1 and on which the respective bottle 2 is hung and retained by means of a mouth flange 2.2 below the bottle mouth 2.1 so that only the mouth region above the mouth flange 2.2 reaches into the chamber 5 and in particular into the part chamber 5.2.

During operation of the closing machine, i.e. for aseptic closing of the bottles 2, the chamber 5 is exposed to or flushed with an appropriate gas and/or vapour-forming medium which ensures the sterility of this chamber, for example sterile air. This medium is thus, for example, fed into the lower part chamber 5.2 and leaves the sterile chamber 5 at least in part via the upper part chamber 5.1.

For closing, the bottles 2 are respectively individually transferred to an operational position of the closing stations 11 so that there they hang and are retained by their mouth flange 2.2 with the bottle mouth 2.1 in the part chamber 5.2 for closing with the closures 3. Each sealed bottles is removed from the closing stations 11 on a container discharge means.

The particular advantage of the closing machine 1 or the closing stations 11 lies in that only smooth regions of the induction seal 12.1 with no recesses, undercuts or the like that could allow germs to colonize are arranged in the sterile chamber 5 so that the whole chamber 5 can be kept germ-free at a considerably reduced cost, and moreover in particular the time interval between cleaning and/or sterilization cycles can be increased; the cycle time is also shorter and the quantity of cleaning and/or sterilization media is also reduced.

FIG. 2 shows the closing machine 1 for closing the bottles 2 with cap-like twist or screw closures 13. To this end, the individual closing stations 11 are each provided with a screw capper 14 having a construction which is known to the skilled person and, inter alia, which consists of a drive 14.1, a longitudinal and closed capper head 14.2 having a spindle or shaft and a capping cone or capping element 14.3 provided at the lower end of the capper head 14.2 and connected with the spindle. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, only the part of the length of the screw capper head 14.2 having a smooth cylindrically shaped outer surface on each screw capper 14 extends through the wall section 6 into the sterile chamber 5 and thus also through the intermediate wall 10 into the lower part chamber 5.2, so that the capping element 14.3 which cooperates with the twist or screw closures 3 a is arranged in this part zone 5.2.

The passage of the capping head 14.2 through the wall section 6 is again sealed using the bellows gasket 13. When capping the bottles 2 with the twist or screw closures 3 a, the screw cappers 14 can be moved up and down in a vertical direction (arrow A) and the closing elements 14.3 provided on the capping head 14.2 are driven in rotation.

Again, the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 has the advantage that in the sterile chamber 5, only those functional elements of the screw capper 14 which have at least as smooth as possible and easy to clean and sterilize an outer surface are arranged within the part chamber 5.2, while other functional elements which are hard to clean and sterilize, such as the drive 14.1 and the functional elements to lift and lower the screw capper 14, are completely outside the chamber 5.

The closing machine 1 is, for example, a component of a unit for sterile, for example aseptic cold, filling of a liquid product into the bottles 2 or into other containers as well as to seal the bottles 2 with the closures 3 or 3 a, wherein prior to filling, during filling and sealing and also over the whole transport path between the filling machine and the closing machine, the bottles 2 are always moved with at least their mouth region with the bottle mouth 2.1 in a sterile chamber.

Clearly, the closing machine 1 is not suitable only for closing bottles 2, but is also suitable for closing other containers.

The invention has been described using exemplary embodiments. Clearly, modifications and deviations are possible without departing from the inventive concept underlying the invention.

Thus, for example, other types of closing tools may be used in the same or similar manner on the closing machine 1 or at its closing stations 11, for example closing tools for fastening cap-like closures to bottles by application and permanent mechanical deformation of the closures, wherein when using such closing tools only functional elements which cooperate directly with the closures are arranged inside the chamber 5 or the part chambers 5.1 and 5.2, while other functional elements, such as functional elements which are hard to clean and/or sterilize, for example drives and/or lifting devices for lifting and lowering the respective closing tools etc, are outside the chamber 5.

Furthermore, it is also possible, instead of an induction welding head 12, to weld or seal the closures 3 with the opening rim 2.1 of the bottles 2 using a closing tool employing another manner of fixing or welding the respective closure 3 with the bottle 2, for example by ultrasound energy and/or forming the closures 3 using microwave energy.

It was mentioned above that instead of the induction welding head 12 and screw capper 14, other closing tools could be used. The inventive construction of the closing machine, however, is of particular advantage when using such closing tools wherein the part of the closing tool that extends into the chamber 5 is a purely passive component which has a shaped part with a corrosion-resistant, smooth surface that is free of undercuts, indentations, joints, recesses etc and which can be cleaned and sterilized without problems. A passive component in this context is the induction seal 12.1 and also, for example with a closing tool operating with ultrasound, a seal type tool which transfers ultrasound energy to the closure 3 and the bottle opening or mouth 2.1.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   1 closing machine -   2 bottle -   2.1 bottle mouth -   2.2 mouth flange -   3, 3 a closure -   4 rotor -   5 sterile chamber -   5.1, 5.2 part chamber -   6, 7, 8, 9 wall section -   7.1, 7.2 part section of wall section 7 -   10 intermediate wall -   10.1 opening -   11 closing station -   12 induction welding head -   12.1 induction seal -   13 bellows seal -   14 screw capper -   14.1 drive -   14.2 cylindrical capper head -   14.3 capping cone or capping element -   A lifting motion of closing tool -   MA vertical machine axis 

1. A closing machine for closing containers with closures, said closing machine comprising: a rotor that can be rotated about a vertical machine axis; a plurality of closing stations formed on a circumference of said rotor, each closing station having a closing tool having a part that cooperates with said container to be closed and/or with said closure, and functional elements, and a container carrier formed on the circumference of said rotor, a sterile chamber formed on said rotor in said region of said closing stations, and into which extend container mouths of containers to be closed, each container hanging from and being retained by a corresponding container carrier, said sterile chamber being delimited from its surroundings by walls or wall sections; wherein said part of the closing tool that cooperates with the container to be closed and/or with the closure (3, 3 a) extends into the sterile chamber, and all said functional elements are arranged outside the sterile chamber.
 2. A closing machine according to claim 1, wherein each of said closing tools comprises a lifting device for lifting and lowering the closing tool, said lifting device being arranged outside the sterile chamber (5).
 3. A closing machine according to claim 1, wherein the closing tools comprise screw cappers, each of which includes at least one rotational drive, said rotational drive being arranged outside the sterile chamber.
 4. A closing machine according to claim 3, wherein one section of the screw capper, on which a capping cone that cooperates with the closures is arranged, extends into the sterile chamber.
 5. A closing machine according to claim 1, wherein the closing tools are constructed to apply the closures to the containers by welding or sealing, and wherein only a seal-like section thereof extends into the sterile chamber.
 6. A closing machine according to claim 5, wherein the seal-like section comprises a passive component or shaped part constructed, from a conductive material.
 7. A closing machine according to claim 5, further comprising a device for producing energy for welding or sealing, arranged outside the sterile chamber.
 8. A closing machine according to claim 1, wherein, at each closing station, an upper wall section delimiting the sterile chamber forms an opening for the passage of the part of a closing tool that cooperates with the closures.
 9. A closing machine according to claim 8, further comprising seals, to seal the opening in the region of the closing tool.
 10. A closing machine according to claim 9, wherein said seals are arranged inside the sterile chamber.
 11. A closing machine according to claim 6, wherein the conductive material comprises a metallic material.
 12. A closing machine according to claim 7, wherein the device for producing energy comprises an induction heating device.
 13. A closing machine according to claim 9, wherein said seals comprise bellows seals.
 14. A closing machine according to claim 9, wherein said seals comprise a gasket.
 15. A closing machine for closing containers with closures, said closing machine comprising: a rotor; a sterile chamber formed on said rotor; means for closing a container, said means for closing having a first portion that interacts with said container and a second portion containing functional elements, wherein, during a closing operation, said first portion extends into said sterile chamber and said second portion is outside said sterile chamber.
 16. A closing machine for closing bottles or similar containers with closures, having a plurality of closing stations that each have a closing tool and a container carrier and are formed on the circumference of a rotor that can be driven in rotation about a vertical machine axis, wherein in the region of the closing stations, the rotor has formed thereon a sterile chamber that is delimited from its surroundings by walls or wall sections and into which extends the container mouth of the containers to be closed, which containers hang and are retained on the container carriers, and in that only the part of the respective closing tool that cooperates with the container to be closed and/or with the closure extends into the sterile chamber, all the rest of its functional elements being arranged outside the sterile chamber. 